Archive: News

The Lansing Town Board  passed its $5,357,479 2021 budget Wednesday after a budget hearing and a summary of how town highway services are being impacted by reductions in income due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Supervisor Ed LaVigne said that the town tax rate will be reduced by a penny, rather than the two cents originally projected, because of changes to the Town assessment.

"We had an adjustment due to the assessments," LaVigne explained. "The assessments are a moving target, and our assessments are decreasing by even $85,000. And that means that the tax rate is increased by 0.1%. That means it's it's going to go to $1.5433 (per $1,000 of assessed property value). That is still a decrease of 0.01% over last year."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that, in the wake of repeated failures by utility and telecom companies to meet their obligations to New Yorkers, he has appointed Rory Lancman, a seasoned lawyer and legislator, as statewide Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection. In this role, Lancman will represent the interests of residential and commercial customers of New York's regulated electric, gas, water, and telecom companies, with the ability to participate as a party in Public Service Commission proceedings, conduct hearings and investigations, undertake discovery to compel documents and testimony, and otherwise marshal the resources of the Department of Public Service to safeguard the interests of ratepayers and hold accountable those utilities and telecoms which fail to meet their contractual and regulatory obligations to their customers.

"Utility companies do not have a God-given right to operate in New York, and when they abuse and bully consumers they must be held accountable. I am creating a new position of Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection at the Department of Public Service to help ensure that happens," Governor Cuomo said. "Rory Lancman has a long record of public service and his background makes him ideally suited to help protect the interests of New Yorkers and ensure they get the service they deserve."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo released guidelines at the end of October for schools to reopen in red and orange micro-cluster zones in order to help keep schools in focus areas open to in-person instruction. The guidelines require mass testing in schools before they reopen followed by vigilant symptom and exposure screening conducted daily. Impacted schools can reopen as early as Monday however students and faculty must be able to provide a negative COVID-19 test result prior to going back to the classroom. New York State will provide rapid test kits for schools wishing to participate.

"In the micro-cluster zones, we've been working with schools in the red and the orange zones. The schools, private schools, Catholic schools, yeshivas, want to be open in the red and orange zones, and we've been working with them to try to find ways to keep people safe but allow children to go to school," Governor Cuomo said. "We have agreed with them on a protocol that keeps people safe and allows children to be educated."

Lansing High School and have temporarily reverted to online instruction-only after an individual at the high school tested positive for COVID-19.  The middle school has also temporarily suspended in-person classroom learning for the 8th grade due to a possible possible positive case.  Lansing Central School District Business Administrator Kate Heath told school board members Monday that there are not enough teachers to keep high school classrooms open, given the people involved.

"We have gone to a hundred percent remote instruction at the high school due to a positive COVID case. The level of quarantining required made in-person instruction impossible with staff coverage. So right now we'll be fully remote until November 2nd at the high school," she said.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday that California has been added to New York State's COVID-19 travel advisory. No areas have been removed. The advisory requires individuals who have traveled to New York from areas with significant community spread to quarantine for 14 days. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from an area with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or an area with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

Neighboring state Massachusetts now meets the criteria for the travel advisory, in addition to Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania - however, given the interconnected nature of the region and mode of transport between the states, a quarantine on these states is not practically viable. That said, New York State highly discourages, to the extent practical, non-essential travel between Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania while they meet the travel advisory criteria.

The Tompkins County Department of Recycling and Materials Management would like to remind residents that their recycling bins will be rejected if they include wrong materials starting November 2nd.

Making sure that your recycling gets collected is easy, and information about what is accepted in your curbside bin can be found at RecycleTompkins.org and in the Curbside Recycling Guidelines for Tompkins County brochure. Some of the most common mistakes residents make include putting plastic bags and film, Styrofoam, and electronics in the recycling bin. Any plastic items must include a number 1, 2, or 5 recycling symbol to be accepted.

(Ithaca, N.Y., October 26, 2020) – The Tompkins County Health Department is alerting the public of potential COVID-19 exposures. The Health Department received notification of an employee of Arby's Ithaca who tested positive for COVID-19 and worked multiple shifts. Another individual who tested positive for COVID-19 worked two shifts at the Ithaca Staples. Both individuals are residents of other Counties, and their respective Counties are managing contact investigations. Close contacts of the individuals will be contacted by the respective County's Health Department.

Potential public exposures may have occurred at Arby's Ithaca, 328 Elmira Rd., during the following dates and times:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced $357 million in funding for the renewal of roadways in every region of New York State. These infrastructure renewal projects will incorporate the use of environmentally conscious construction techniques such as warm-mix asphalt and cold in place asphalt recycling that can be applied at significantly lower temperatures, thereby reducing fuel consumption and decreasing the production of associated greenhouse gas emission during construction. These techniques also allow existing materials to be reused and can reduce the amount of materials that would otherwise be trucked to landfills.

The money includes $4,306,000 for projects in Tompkins County, including two in Lansing. The projects announced last Friday are currently being designed and construction will begin next spring.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the NYS Department of Health released a draft COVID-19 Vaccination Administration Program last week that serves as an initial framework for ensuring the safe and effective distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in New York.

The draft program was developed in consultation with leading clinical and public health experts, and requires collaboration and partnership with local departments of health, community partners and organizations, and the federal government.

The Town of Lansing Planning Board declared itself the lead agency Monday for a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) evaluation of a proposed Dollar General store -- the second in Lansing -- on Auburn Road approximately across the street from the North Lansing Fire Station.  The resolution, a routine step for projects requiring environmental review, was passed with little discussion after a letter from nearby resident Ben Finio was read into the record, opposing the planned store.

Developer Franklin Land Associates, LLC submitted proposed site plan documents (opposition letters and petition are included in this document)  before the meeting, showing details of the 9,100 square foot retail building. including proposed parking in front and on the south side of the store, an erosion control plan, and other project details.

Two developments came before the Village of Lansing Planning Board Tuesday that are asking for special subdivisions that would require no space between lots.  One is the Lansing Meadows (mall 55 and older housing) project that has had increasingly contentious dealings with the Planning Board over close to a decade.  That developer is asking for two changes to village regulations that would decrease the minimum lot size and frontage requirements in order to make subdivision of 18 triplex units (six buildings) possible.  The other is the Shops at Ithaca Mall itself, where the owner seeks to sell anchor stores to current or potential tenants, and a lot outside the mall for an extended stay hotel.

The plan for the Shops at Ithaca Mall is to subdivide mostly anchor store spaces, not counting what remains of the mall once the large stores are sold. Target already owns its store, and BJ's Wholesale Club is not owned by the mall owner. Parcels that would go up for sale include Regal Cinemas; Michael's; the south end of the mall that contains Dick's, DSW, ultra Beauty, and Best Buy; and a lot behind the Clarion Hotel that is being considered for an extended-stay hotel.  A bonus is that Graham Road from Triphammer to BJ's Wholesale Club plus a portion of the ring road in front of the mall will be dedicated to the Village as part of the subdivision, something Village officials have wanted for a long time in order to resolve pothole and sidewalk issues there.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced yesterday that on November 1, NY State of Health - the state's official health plan Marketplace - will launch Open Enrollment for 2021 Qualified Health Plans.

"New York has done more than any state to expand access to healthcare and make high-quality insurance available to everyone," Cuomo said. "And as we continue to fight COVID-19, making sure every New Yorker is insured and has access to quality healthcare has only become more critical. If you are not insured, make 2021 the year you change that, go online or call NY State of Health for assistance."